As history continues to be made every day, leisure activities such as those associated with wine travels and tours continue to gain in popularity. These are not activities that were originated in today’s society. Wine travels and tours were most likely part of medieval society.

Certainly the varieties of wines were less, but people still traveled to partake in or purchase their favorite wines. Many would take tasting tours around the facilities that would make their favored brew. Because of this tasting tour, many a wine enthusiast perhaps finished their day with pain or death on the jousting fields.

Wine travels and tours is thus a whimsical expression that describes folk’s endeavors in traveling in chase of their favorite wine and touring the facilities that make it.

The Wine Tour – grape selection

Truly the best part of wine travels and tours is the wine sampling. This is when you actually get to taste the wine that you have traveled for. Hopefully this is a good experience. But sometimes, unfortunately, the wine you taste in the tour is not worth the travel time. This is when you hope that the other component of the wine tour in wine travels and tours takes precedence. This component is about the process. Perhaps it starts with selecting the grapes, collecting them and transporting them to the processing site. Today the processing site is where most of the cool technology is in use.

Wine Tour 2 – processing plant

The processing plant that is used in a large number of the larger “jug” wineries is actually pretty interesting. If you have an engineering orientation it might actually make your wine travels and tours expedition worthwhile.

Large, perhaps even massive, steel containers of fermenting wine are seen everywhere. Thousands of gallons, perhaps more than an average wino drinks in a lifetime, surround the touring enthusiast. Even if the wine is awful it may make the travel worthwhile, and you will continue on your wine travels and tours to other destinations.

Better wine typically is made in smaller lots and often wooden barrels with infrastructure that is perhaps less cool, but more demanding, of the wine maker. As you progress in your wine travels and tours, you will find the wineries you will eventually seek, and the taste and quantity of the wine you consume make the coolness of the plant irreverent.

The Travel Home

All good things must come to an end. Traveling home is the final component of wine travels and tours. This can be a time of great celebration or complete desperation. If you have spent your lifesavings on traveling and partaking in wine tours, hopefully you selected well. It is also hoped that the wine tours project developer who designed your vacation understood your needs. However, a life of wine travels and tours is like a game of golf. In golf, one good shot brings you back for more. In your experience of wine travels and tours, one good bottle will keep the search alive for the bottle of wine that defines your life.

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Guide - No Oak vs Heavy Oak: Wines might be stored in oak barrels, usually to impart extra and more complex flavours. French, American and German oak barrels are widely used in Australia.

It’s amazing how one little innocent glass of Chardonnay or Shiraz can do so much damage to your waistline but it can if you don’t take care. A small 125ml glass of wine contains around 100 calories - the equivalent of over 10 pounds of pure body fat being added to your body if you have one every day for a year.

Wine won’t fill you up and it may even increase your appetite and lower your inhibitions so that you end up eating more than is good for you. Many people find that after a glass or two all caution goes to the wind.

Guide - Use a wine preserver spray. This, by far, is the most effective and dependable method of keeping wine fresh.

If you do like a glass of wine with dinner then you need to make sure that you only have one and that you eat less or (preferably) exercise more to make up for those extra calories. When you find out you have to jog for an extra 12 -15 minutes a day to make up for each glass you might think twice.

As a compromise you may like to

• have half a glass to enjoy the taste without all the calories
• turn your wine into a spritzer to reduce the overall calories
• save your wine drinking for weekends or special occasions

This is a time to use a quality not quantity principle. Why not treat yourself to better quality wines and sip your glass slowly to get the full enjoyment?

Guide - Low Tannins vs High Tannins: Tannins are a vital ingredient in wines, especially red wines. It comes from the stalks, skins and pips of grapes.

And if you have friends round to share the bottle, remember champagne is no more calories than other wines, yet it’s hard to feel that you’re deprived and “on a diet” when you have a glass.

Copyright 2005, Janice Elizabeth Small

Janice Elizabeth is a weight loss coach, slimming club owner and author of “The Diet Exit Plan”, an 8 week coaching program for automatic permanent weight loss. Request her FREE 15 page report “How to lose weight without dieting - 7 secrets the diet industry doesn’t want you to know” at http://www.SimplySlimming.com TODAY!

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The Bargain Hunter’s Wine Shopping Guide eBook on how to find and buy the best wine values in the U. S.

A wine and cheese party can be a fun way to relax and make new friends. It’s also a great way to lower your blood pressure.

Cheese and wine parties are great for large get-togethers. Make it lots of fun by having every guest bring a bottle of wine and an exotic cheese. It’s a fantastic way to try new wines and cheeses … and a perfect conversation starter.

A cheese and wine party is also the perfect way to relax … both yourself and your arteries. Wine is good for lowering blood pressure … and so is cheese.

A Glass of Red Wine

Guide - Still under the influence of the aromas you’ve inhaled in step II, take a sip of the wine. Don’t make it too big or too small.

Red wine contains a protective antioxidant — the flavonol called resveratrol. This powerful antioxidant protects your arteries against the damage done by free radicals … and helps prevent hardening of your arteries.

The flavonoid in red wine also keeps your blood platelets from clumping together … stopping this first step in the formation of deadly blood clots. A glass of red wine keeps your blood flowing smoothly through your arteries.

Even more important for your blood pressure … recent studies have shown that drinking red wine improves the function of your artery linings. When the linings of your arteries are working well … they freely dilate and bring down your blood pressure.

Guide - Low Tannins vs High Tannins: Tannins are a vital ingredient in wines, especially red wines. It comes from the stalks, skins and pips of grapes.

A glass or two of red wine a day … this is the perfect amount to keep your heart and arteries young — and keep your blood pressure normal. The darker the red wine … the better. Dark red wines are higher in the protective resveratrol flavonoid. Forget about white wines … they pale by comparison.

A Wedge of Cheese

Although cheese has lots of saturated fat and can raise cholesterol levels … a little cheese is good for you. Like red wine, cheese is good for you if eaten in moderation.

During the cheese making process, while the milk is fermenting … peptides are released from the milk proteins. These peptides help control your blood pressure … by inhibiting the enzymes that convert angiotensin.

When the protein angiotensin is converted into angiotensin II. Angiotensin II is a peptide that constricts your arteries and increases the retention of water and sodium. This whole process really pumps up your blood pressure.

Guide - If you have just spilled red wine, immediately pour white wine over a red wine stain. The white wine [white grape juice is fine too] dilutes the pigmentation from the red grape.

The other peptides — found in fermented milk products like cheese — put a stop to this reaction that ups the blood pressure. Eating a small wedge of cheese blocks the enzyme that creates angiotensin II, keeps your arteries relaxed, and keeps your blood pressure down.

Relax With a Glass of Shiraz and a Slice of Gruyere

After a hard day at the office … when tension has got your blood pressure creeping up … enjoy some nice cheeses with a glass of red wine. Relax … relax your arteries … bring your blood pressure back down to normal. Your heart will love you for it.

Kevin Riley a long-time natural health advocate and researcher … and the author of the exciting new program “Get Natural! Drop Your Blood Pressure”. Discover more at http://www.naturalbloodpressure.com

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